FMC (NYSE:FMC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by UBS Group from $41.00 to $45.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the basic materials company's stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on FMC. KeyCorp upped their target price on FMC from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded FMC from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Mizuho upgraded FMC from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $49.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on FMC in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on FMC from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $50.54.

FMC Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FMC traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $42.42. 1,240,918 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,034,152. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $40.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.37. The firm has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.19, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.77. FMC has a twelve month low of $32.83 and a twelve month high of $68.55.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $791.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $783.70 million. FMC had a return on equity of 9.12% and a net margin of 7.97%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that FMC will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. FMC's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.55%.

Institutional Trading of FMC

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FMC. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of FMC by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 36,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,761,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of FMC by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 59,771 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,905,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of FMC by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 59,052 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,871,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of FMC by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 54,754 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,662,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC increased its stake in shares of FMC by 5.5% in the first quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 7,653 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FMC Company Profile

FMC Corporation, an agricultural sciences company, provides crop protection, plant health, and professional pest and turf management products. It develops, markets, and sells crop protection chemicals that includes insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides; and biologicals, crop nutrition, and seed treatment products, which are used in agriculture to enhance crop yield and quality by controlling a range of insects, weeds, and diseases, as well as in non-agricultural markets for pest control.